Author: Threepenny Editor

Vijay Seshadri

I did not knowthat no one was planningto bring me back, either. —from "Laika," by Ben Florin As if amazed it's his,he holds his hand upbefore the mirror, handtoo big…

Cold, that’s how I was. I couldn’t shake it off, especiallythose last days and nights doing all the right thingsin the wrong spirit, in the antithesis of spirit, moremachine of…

In the hospice where you died, a lot of moneywas spent to make the place conform to someone’salgorithm of home—shag carpeted lobby,wood paneled elevator, particle board furniturewith shrink wrap thin…

It’s posted on the wallat school: Omnia quae sciomecum fero, everything I knowI carry with me. Maybe the children recognize the Latin words.Some already know the rules of addition andsubtraction, the…

Gary Shteyngart

I came here in my youth,A wind toy on a string.Saw a street in hell and one in paradise.Saw a room with a light in it so ailingIt could’ve been…

On Grim Reaper’s kneeBouncing like a babyAnd smiling too.No teeth, but what a grin!Everyone’s in love with you.They say DeathHid his face in his hoodSo he could smile too. —Charles…

My little boat,Take care, There is noLand in sight. —Charles Simic Charles Simic has been Poet Laureate of the United States and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.…

Mother is knitting for meA sweater in the dark. Father is on all foursSearching for a black cat. —Charles Simic Charles Simic's many books of poems included Come Closer and Listen,…